Tag Archives: 2013

To keep myself on task a weekly report on my 2013 projects seemed like a good idea. I was going to call these posts WIP Wednesdays but that seemed too ordinary. So Whatcha doin seemed to be more in order.

This week has been productive project week for me. I haven’t taken pictures of the two projects I am working on except this one of the first square for the Spiral Fan Throw I am making for my girlfriend’s birthday.

So far I’ve completed 14 of the 35 squares and have them in two strips of 7. I only have 3 more strips and the edging to complete, so feel fairly confident that this project will be completed in time for her birthday. I’m using Brava Worsted from Knit Picks in Wine. I really love the feel of this yarn and the way it works up. It is soft and feels as though it will be really warm and cozy.

My knitting project is a helix scarf I am making for myself out of the bison yarn I purchased at Stitches Midwest. I was encouraged to start this project first by my friend. She was with me when I purchased the yarn and was anxious to see how it would work up. It has the feel of cotton even though it is 90% super was merino and 10% American Bison.

It is the hot pink and black hank in this picture of all of the yarns that I purchased at Stitches. As a sidebar – I have used almost all of the yarn pictured here. The blue and orange is now a scarf made for my son’s girlfriend. Go Bears!! The two at the top – the brown and beige variegated – are now a washcloth for my girlfriend for Christmas and several dishcloths for our kitchen. The only thing here that is still in my stash are the three little twists of bison yarn. They came with a pattern for cute little Christmas stockings. This is inspiring me to add those 3 little projects to my list of things to do for Christmas 2013.

How are your projects coming along this year? Have you jumped in with both feet? Are you planning your projects? Are you more of a free spirit and do what you do when you do it without a real plan of action? Just wondering what you are doing. 🙂

I am not one to make New Years resolutions. Instead I prefer to set goals for myself. These can be lofty, wishful and/or hopeful, but it gives me something to strive for in the upcoming year. This year I have a list of projects I want to complete, some of them are roll overs from last year, these goals are the mean stepsisters of resolutions past.

Since I am sharing them with all of you, any of you, some of you…maybe more of them will be completed this year. I’ll circle back to this post in late December and assess my progress or lack thereof.

I’ll start with my writing goals:

1) Publish at least 4 blog entries each week starting now (I know, already 5 days into the new year) either on this blog or my writing blog (inmywords.wordpress.com) – this will keep me motivated to write, write, write. I write in my head all of the time, getting these words to paper is a long and laborious task.

2) I will get at least one story, book, article or essay published this year. I know one doesn’t sound like a very lofty goal, but if you are a writer, you’ll be shaking your head muttering “Good luck with that, ha ha ha”. Getting published is very, very difficult but wonderful when it happens.

Knitting and Crocheting goals:

1) I will attempt to complete the Knitting Guild of American’s hand knit masters’s program this year. I’ve already downloaded the new instructions (they change slightly each year) and will make Monday’s blog entry an update day. Master’s Mondays will start to appear the first Monday of January.

2) I will complete the Fan Throw I began working on Jan 1 for my girlfriend’s birthday on February 1. Originally I was going to make her a shawl, but decided on a throw instead.

3) Left over projects on my 2012 goal list need to be completed. Namely the alpaca hat and buffalo mittens (which may change to a helix scarf because I would wear that way more than mittens). I would be remiss if I left off the third pair of socks that I didn’t complete last year. I have issues making things for myself. They always get pushed to the end of my lists of things to do. All three of these projects are for me, so hopefully I’ll get them done and you won’t see them on my list of goals for 2014.

4) Two baby blankets must be completed by April for the little boy that is due.

5) Assorted Christmas projects. I am not sure yet what Christmas projects I want to tackle. One will most likely be an afghan or throw for my cousin. The problem I see is I have 2 cousins so should make them each one this year. This makes the goal even a bit crazier, but what the heck, this is January and I’ve ordered the yarn for one of them already.

Now that my goals are on cyber paper, it brings life to the list. I’ll keep you all posted which will keep me on task.

Here’s to a great 2013 to all of you. May all of your goals be completed. Reach for them – the whole year is ahead of you. Live it to the fullest and have lots of laughter and fun while enjoying it.

My work in progress update is kind of early this weekend. I don’t have a lot of progress so I thought I’d just get on with it.

I still have nine squares to finish for the snowflake afghan and will get on that hopefully in a week or so. I want to finish the scarf for my daughter-in-law then will go back to it. I am half way done with the scarf. Check out my progress.

Because our kids were here today, I didn’t go down to Culture Stock this week. Next week I am going back to see the progress everyone has made. While we were there last week, my cousin was talking about the washcloth I made for her daughter last Christmas. She said she loved it, and it was her favorite. How can I not add a couple more to my list of Christmas knitting? They only take a couple of hours to make, so I should not have any trouble whipping them up before the holidays.

So for Christmas I will be finishing the scarf, snowflake afghan and washcloths. I should have plenty of time as long as life doesn’t get in the way. If I have a bit of extra time (stop laughing!!) I got a really cool pattern today for knit ribbons. Some of the gifts would look pretty cool with these – but I am not sure I’ll actually have time to do these. Just the thought of tying up those cute little washcloths in a pretty homemade bow sounds like a plan. We’ll see how this best laid plan works out.

That leaves a pair of socks, the alpaca hat and buffalo mittens undone for the year. I don’t feel horribly bad because I’ve made good progress on all the other goals I’ve set.

The biggest short coming (is that an oxymoron??) is my lack of progress on The Knitting Guild of America’s Master’s Program. I’ve completed three of the swatches, but am going to do them over again because I have different yarn to use. It hasn’t even been wound yet, but will be done between Christmas and New Year’s because I have a glorious 10 days off work.

So I am now getting my 2013 list of projects ready. The Master’s program, two baby afghans (prolific parents in our circles!), shawl for my girlfriend’s birthday in March and the three leftover projects from 2012 are on the pre-list list for now 🙂 And possibly learning how to work my awesome knitting machine that I got from my mom.

Here is it Monday and I didn’t post my progress last week on all the long list of to-dos I have and haven’t done.

(pic from Let’sTalkMagazine.com)

No excuses, no whining, I haven’t worked on my fall mystery shawl, which most in the group have finished. I have to concentrate to work on it and can’t with a house guest. So it can wait for another day and time. It isn’t that important for me to finish it in any specific timeline because it is just for me, not a gift.

I delivered the baby blanket to my new little neighbor’s dad. More specifically his two older sisters that were out playing while dad watched them with one eye while he tidied up his yard. The girls are adorable. Lilly is about 2 and her sister (ok, can’t remember her name, was only told it once) is about 4. The four-year-old told me she would open the gift for her new brother.

Dad told her she could hold it but not open it. It was making that poor kid nuts. She shook it, “fixed” the curly ribbon bow until one of the pieces came out and then had to surrender the box to dad. Ah, I miss having little kids around the house and am so happy they moved next door 🙂

Anyway, mission accomplished. My dance card is wide open and I am excited to start a new project. My list of projects for this year still includes that pair of socks. I made a bet with my friend that I would knit at least 3 pr of socks this year before buying more sock yarn. She said I lost because I actually did buy more sock yarn. But it was on sale… OK, I’ll accept the defeat, but it is a matter of principal that I am going to make the third pair anyway. Hope it is before the end of the year. That will remain to be seen.

I also have the alpaca hat. Also for me. I am seeing a pattern. All projects for me seem to be preempted for more important (read make something for someone else) projects.

Progress has been made on the snowflake afghan for my cousin for Christmas. I only have 10 – yes you are reading this correctly! – squares left to make. They are all together in strips so I just have to sew the strips together, then the edging and I will be finished. This is going to be what I work on until I finish it. Then it is knitting until the end of the year. Sort of like eating my veggies before dessert. I like veggies, but would rather just eat dessert. Crocheting is OK, but knitting is so much more relaxing to me.

Because I pretty much have my list of projects completed or queued up, I am thinking about 2013 knitting projects. I am seriously going to start the Master Knitter Program again with the nice new yarn I bought. I’ll post about it once a week to keep me rolling.

My girlfriend’s birthday is the first week in March. I am going to make her a shawl, so have been sort of looking for a pattern that will be a nice fit for her. I am totally positive I have enough yarn in my stash to make several shawls, but am reserving the right to get something new if the spirit moves me. I absolutely will NOT use cotton for the one I made my other girlfriend for her birthday. I loved the pattern but was not crazy about the yarn.

My daughter-in-law’s sister-in-law is pregnant so another baby blanket will be in the works as soon as I hear if she is having a boy or a girl.Either way I am covered with my stash. I have some absolutely yummy yarn for a baby girl. It is mostly white, with small bits of yellow, pink and blue dotting the finished fabric when it is completed. For a boy, I have some wonderfully soft Brava worsted from Knit Picks in solid blue, white and yellow. I used these colors on the last afghan that I made for my little neighbor and they complimented each other perfectly.

That leaves the rest of my year totally open for any projects I feel like casting on.

Maybe I’ll even haul out the fabulous knitting machine that was my mom’s and learn how to make something on it. The instructions are daunting, but I think it will be really fun to use once I figure it out.